Flexible billet container support for extrusion press



April 15, 19 58 F. J. KENT 2,830,701

FLEXIBLE BILLET CONTAINER SUPPORT FOR EXTRUSION PRESS Filed March 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet l April 15, 1958 F. J. KENT 2,830,701

FLEXIBLE BILLET CONTAINER SUPPORT FOR EXTRUSION PRESS Filed March 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INKENTOR flanczs Jfl en? April 15, 1958 F. J. KENT 2,83 ,701

FLEXIBLE BILLET CONTAINER SUPPORT FOR EXTRUSION PRESS Filed March 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Shet :5

F. J. KENT April 15, 1958 FLEXIBLE BILLET CONTAINER SUPPORT FOR EXTRUSION PRESS Filed March 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Wyn/ads (life/zl- ATTO RN EYS United States Patent C) FLEXIBLE BILLET CONTAINER SUPPORT FOR EXTRUSION PRESS Francis J. Kent, Forest Hills, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Haldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation, Philadelphia, Pan, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 8, 1955, Serial No. 492,926

Claims. (Cl. 207--) in extrusion presses using fixed containers, the container assembly is normally supported on stud bolts extending from the platen of the extrusion press, and the outer end of the container assembly is not otherwise supported and is permitted some relative movement in both longitudinal and radial direction to accommodate for expansion and contraction and unusual stress during container loading and extrusion operations. Due to the weight of the heavy container assembly supported on bolts extending from the platen and the necessity of allowing some play for expansion and contraction, it is somewhat diflicult to avoid sagging of the container after a period of use and to keep the container in proper axial alignment in the press, which alignment is essential to obtain satisfactory sealing between the'container and the die and in tube extrusion to obtain satisfactory concentricity.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a flexible support for the outer end of such container assemblies which will permit expansion and contraction of the container holder or container assembly and adjustment of the container holder to unusual stresses during upsetting, piercing and extrusion operations and at the same time prevent sagging of the container and maintain proper alignment of the container in the press.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container holder in which the billet containers may be readily mounted and dismounted so as to facilitate changing of the billet container in the container holder.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as this description proceeds.

Referring nowto the drawings which show a preferred form of embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a side view partially in section of the improved container holder in position on the platen of an extrusion press.

Fig. 2 is an end view taken from the left side of Fig. 1 also partially in section.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken approximately through the center of Fig. l with parts shown in perspective.

Fig. 4- is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. Sis a sectional view taken approximately on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a detailed view of one of the billet container locking devices taken from the position indicated by line 6-6 of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail of a supporting spring.

in the form of embodiment of the invention shown in these views, the platen of the press is indicated at 1.

The tie-rods by which the platen is connected to the main cylinder are indicated at 2 and the stud bolts ice supporting the container holder or container assembly from the platen are shown at 3. The stud bolts 3 are provided with heads 4 by which the container holder 5 is normally supported and held against the face of the platen 1.

The above described parts represent the normal construction of an extrustion press of this type in which the container assembly is supported only from stud bolts projecting from the face of the platen. In the improvement of this invention 1 provide a flexible support for the outer end of the container assembly, consisting of a cradle 6 flexibly supported above the bed plate 7 of the extrusion press by means of two heavy coil spring members 8 pressing upwardly against bosses 9 on the outer end of the cradle 6. The cradle 6 is secured to the bed plate 7 by means of four studs 10, which are secured in the bed plate and project upward therefrom and are provided with nuts 11 and lock nuts 12 by which the upper limit of movement of the cradle 6 from the bed plate 7 may be set. Lighter coil springs 18a are provided around the two studs 10, which are nearest the platen of the press. The springs 141 a rest upon the bed plate 7 and push upwardly against a washer-like member 10b welded to the cradle 6. Some play is provided between the cradle 6 and the four studs ltl to permit relative movement between the studs 10 and the cradle 6. Nuts 11 and lock nuts 12 are adjustable so that the container assembly may be properly aligned with the axis of the press in the, vertical direction.

The force of the springs 55 is slightly larger than the weight of the container assembly so that the cradle 6 is normally held at the height determined by the setting of the nuts 11 and lock nuts 12 on the studs 16. The springs 8 however will yield either under heat expansion of the container assembly or when other excessive loads are placed thereon, such as may be caused by loading billets into the billet container which are not homogeneous or are too small so that during upsetting of the billets or pressing of the extrusion, unbalanced lateral forces are exerted against the container walls.

The cradle 6 'is provided with upwardly projecting flanges 13 at each side thereof from which horizontal ledges 14 are supported. Container supporting wedges 15 are adjustably mounted on the horizontal ledges 14.

' The container supporting wedges 15 bear against wear plates 16 mounted on radially extending flanges 17 on the wall of the container holder. As the mating surfaces of wedges 15 and wear plates 16 are disposed in planes radial to the center of the container, free heat expansion of the container is possible so that the container holder may expand and contract in a radial direction along the faces of the supporting wedges 15 without affecting the concentric position of the billet container in the extrusion press. Springs 8 will yield to excessive expansion of the container in a downward direction and will allow flexibility for the absorption or" other downwardly directing loads or forces to which the container assembly may be subjected in uses.

The wedges 15 are secured on the ledges 14 by means of lock bolts 18 extending through a slotted opening 19 in each ledge 14. The position of the wedges 15 on the ledges 14 may be adjusted by loosening the bolts 18 whereupon screws 20 provided with lock nuts 21 and bearing against the flanges 13 will permit the position of the wedges 15 to be adjusted inwardly or outwardly with reference to the axis of the press. By this adjustment the container may be brought into exact alignment with the axis of the press horizontally and any required correction in the vertical direction may also be made. Screws 22 bearing against washers 23 on each end of the wedges 15 prevent longitudinal movement of the wedges 15 with ref erence to the ledges 14 as the washers 23 overlap the ledges.

As shown in Fig. 4 the container holder preferably consists of a one-piece hollow outer casing in which the billet container 24 is removably mounted and held in position by means of three keys 25. Liners 25 are normally provided in the billet container 24 to protect the billet container from Wear. It will be understood, however, that the container holder 5 need not consist of one integral piece but may take the form of the conventional split or two-piece container holder which is known per se in the industry. It is preferred, however, to use a onepiece hollow container holder 5, as such a one-piece container holder has less tendency to Warp under the influence of the heat to which the container holder is subjected.

It will also be understood that the container holder 5 may be omitted and the billet container 24, carrying the liners 26, may be provided with flanges for direct mounting on the studs 3 projecting out from the platen 1, and in the claims following this specification, the term container assembly is intended to describe either a onepiece or multiple-part container holder and billet container or a billet container directly mounted on the platen 1.

In the preferred form of embodiment of the container holder and container assembly illustrated in the drawings, the billet container 24- is removably mounted in the container holder 5 and is provided toward its inner end with a circumferential groove 27 and a flange 28. When mounted in the container holder 5 the container 24 is held in position by means of four removable lugs 29 mounted in slots in the Wall of the container holder 5 and held in position by screws 30 provided with overhanging keeper pieces 31 as illustrated in greater detail in Figs. 5 and 6. In order to remove a billet container 24- from the container holder 5 the screws 30 need only be slightly loosened and the keeper pieces 31 turned. The lugs 29 are then moved out of the slot 27 so that the billet container can be moved forwardly out of the container holder 5 to permit a new billet container to be inserted therein. When the new billet container is pushed into place, the lugs 29 are again projected into the slot 27 and secured in position by the screws 30. By this means the billet containers can be readily changed in the container holder 5 and when so mounted the billet containers are free to expand in a longitudinal direction from the slot 27.

Fig. 3 shows the container assembly in position against the face of the platen 1. Keys 32 located at 90 angles to each other and secured to the face of the platen 1 project into slots 32a in the face of the container holder 5 to hold the container holder against lateral and vertical movement. The die is indicated at 33 and the die locking wedge at 34. This construction illustrates a typical die and die locking assembly of an extrusion press.

In the construction illustrated the outer end of the container holder is supported jointly by the bolts 3 projecting from the platen 1 and by the upward pressure of the springs 8 against the outer end of the supporting cradle 6. By the adjustment of the nuts 11 on the bolts the upward position of the cradle 6 may be fixed to provide for concentric mounting of the container assembly in the vertical direction with reference to the axis of the press. The springs 8 provide flexible support for the container assembly to permit downward expansion under heat and to permit automatic adjustment to unequal stresses which may be encountered during extrusion operations. The spring support for the container assembly therefore helps maintain the concentricity of the assembly in the press and thereby helps to maintain the concentricity of the tubes extruded in the press and reduces flashing between the container and the die or platen.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my 4 invention it will be understood by persons skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made therein within the spirit of my invention and the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an extrusion press, a platen, a bed plate, a billet container assembly, stud bolts supporting the container assembly from the face of the platen, a supporting cradle mounted on the bed plate, spring means urging the cradle upwardly, means to limit the upward movement of the cradle and means on the cradle to give support to the container assembly.

2. In an extrusion press, a platen, a bed plate, a billet container assembly, stud bolts supporting the container assembly from the face of the platen, a supporting cradle mounted on the bed plate, spring means urging the cradle upwardly, adjustable means to limit the upward movement of the cradle, and adjustable means on the cradle bearing on radial supporting faces on the bottom of the container assembly to give support to the container assembly.

3. In an extrusion press, a platen, a bed plate, a hollow container holder, means supporting the container holder from the face of the platen, a billet container removably carried in the container holder, a container holder support mounted on the bed plate, spring means pushing the container holder support upwardly from the bed plate, means to limit the upward movement of the container holder support above the bed plate, and means on the container holder support contacting the container holder in planes radial to the axis of the container holder to give support to the container holder.

4. In an extrusion press, a platen, a bed plate, a hollow one-piece container holder, means supporting the container holder from the face of the platen, a billet container removably carried in the container holder, a circumferential slot adjacent one end of the billet container, radially removable lugs in the billet container holder projecting into said slot to lock the billet container in the billet container holder, a container holder support mounted on the bed plate, spring means pushing the container holder support upwardly from the bed plate, means to limit the upward movement of the container holder support above the bed plate, and means on the container holder support contacting the container holder in planes radial to the axis of the container holder to give support to the container holder.

5. In an extrusion press, a platen, a hollow billet container holder supported from the platen, a billet container removably carried in said billet container holder, a circumferential groove having two lateral walls on the outer side of said billet container adjacent one end of the billet container, the other end of said billet container being freely movable axially in said container holder, a plurality of radially movable locking members mounted in the container holder for movement into and out of said groove between said lateral walls to removably hold the billet container in the billet container holder, and releasable means for locking said locking members in said groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,574,792 Clark Mar. 2, 1926 2,214,734 Loewy Sept, 17, 1940 2,491,897 Lorant Dec. 20, 1949 2,735,545 Norman Feb. 21, 1956 2,782,921 Norman Feb. 26, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 712,529 Great Britain 1954 

